FR: wash your hands

Hello, folks.
In some situations where an English speaker would use a possessive pronoun (Wash your hands.), French uses an article. (Lave les mains.) But at other times, French uses a possessive pronoun, just like English. (Ta soeur est belle.)

How do we know whether to use an article or pronoun?
Thanks very much.

Hello, folks.
In some situations where an English speaker would use a possessive pronoun (Wash your hands.), French uses an article. (Lave les mains.) But at other times, French uses a possessive pronoun, just like English. (Ta soeur est belle.)

How do we know whether to use an article or pronoun?
Thanks very much.

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Do the French say "Lave les mains"? I would expect "Lave-toi les mains."

The article is used when a reflexive verb is used to describe an action performed on a part of one's body:

Yes Areyou Crazy I quite agree that it's simplistic. The point made to me was that French is a very logical language and that the possessive article is not required. It just helped me remember, that's all. Sorry if I've caused any confusion.

I am not sure I agree there!
If I have understood you correctly...
Mothers often wash the hands of their children

Certainly it's not really a good guideline to use !

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Yes, while it may help to understand, it's really a very poor guideline. Certainly, within a family, and also in many other situations, such as a spa, salon, or hospital, there are a ton of situations where people wash, brush, etc, other people's bodies.

And speaking of such, for clarification, would you say:
Il m'a lavé les cheveux. (He washed my hair.)
And it also seems that in some situations, you would have to rely on context, such as when he washes her hair. (Il lui lave les cheveux.) Correct?

Yes, while it may help to understand, it's really a very poor guideline. Certainly, within a family, and also in many other situations, such as a spa, salon, or hospital, there are a ton of situations where people wash, brush, etc, other people's bodies.

And speaking of such, for clarification, would you say:
Il m'a lavé les cheveux. (He washed my hair.)
And it also seems that in some situations, you would have to rely on context, such as when he washes her hair. (Il lui lave les cheveux.) Correct?

If I understand Marget correctly, she means:
to the body part - using the hand(s) to aid in the action
with the body part - allowing the body part to act on its own.
This would not be a contradiction to my statements.

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To recap, I'd say:
Lève la main → The hand performs the action ↔ Something is done with the body part ↔ The hand goes up on its own
Lève-toi la main → The hand experiences the action ↔ Something is done to the body part ↔ One hand or any other body part or anything else helps lift the other hand up. (Obviously this is most likely a hand that would help the lift, but not necessarily…)

Note that Lave-toi les mains is a special case since each hand helps wash the other one, so each hand both performs and experiences the washing…